Wanted to say up front as far as casters. If possible, I'd rather we not get a Bard. Between being a Chr caster myself, and both Zhan and I being Chr skilled, I would just prefer to not have too much overlap.

As far as healing, FWIW, I am maxing out UMD, so that's always a back-up with CW wands.

If a few days are needed, that is cool, though it looks like you're having good luck recruiting on Ringtail's Rise of the Rune lords OOC page. Sounds like so far we will be getting a full cleric and a rogue type. Cool. Perhaps we can talk Alyoma into being a Cleric of Pharasma. We have been working with several acolytes already, so if Grimburrow asks one of them to lend a hand, it would be an instant fit. We could even retcon him/her into having been one of the acolytes with us at the tomb when we fought the centipedes.

Orlok:

I was impressed with the idea myself. Liberties are welcome, otherwise it won't come as a surprise. Just let me know which elements I would have prior knowledge of. Obviously if I had a wife, etc, I'd remember that. I imagine that Zhan, being rather naive back then, would have assumed she was killed in the attack, along with the many other villagers who died.

Contact:

My e-mail is lastaddressplanetearth@gmail.com chosen out of frustration at not being able to find any other moniker without a string of six numbers behind it.

I got linked over here, so I guess it's okay to plan my character in here.

Delia, I can see that you were against Bards... So I'll see if this is okay with you prior to going ahead. I was planning an archaeologist. I note that your main reservation is the redundancy of multiple cha characters, though. If I am allowed to make an archaeologist, would this step too much on your toes? I plan on a dex focus, and the skills I plan to get are disable device, perception, umd, stealth, spellcraft, linguistics, and knowledge (history and dungeoneering).

I don't think that overlaps too badly with anyone, as the archaeologist is basically a rogue with spells.

Marking this thread.
I hope to be able to join you soon, and I'm working on Ember V, a cleric of Pharasma right now. Details to follow, but here is a bit of her life so far:

Ember is a changeling, but unaware of her heritage.
Ember was found on the doorstep of some household in Ustalav, and turned over to the local orphanage. There, her toughness to beatings and strange beauty made her an unpopular outcast. Her name, Ember, was given to her to mock her golden eye, which seemed to glow in darkness.

Finally, at about age eight, she fled the orphanage. A chance meeting with Professor Lorrimer saved her from whatever short life she would have led. While the Professor was interested in her (as a subject), he knew he did not want to raise her himself (his own daughter came first). So he found a family, the Volkins, that had just lost a daughter about her age to take care of her.

The Volkins raised her as a member of their family. Since their daughter did resemble Ember, they found room in their hearts to accept her into their family as a daughter. Ember slowly changed, gaining trust in her new parents (who did not beat her as the orphanage workers did), and her siblings (she had never had an older brother to defend her, or a younger sister who looked up to her). Professor Lorrimer visited ofter, watching her development and gently testing her.

Ember decided to become a priestess of Pharasma, with the support of her family. She has just heard of Professor Lorrimer's death, and has hurried to try to get to his funeral, although she has arrived too late.

Trinam, it's not really up to me, but I did express some concerns. I have no problems with the bard that you intend. It really feels like a much more rougey archetype than a bard one. I don't see too much overlap for it to feel like anyone will be left with less to do, or as a sidekick to the other.

Trinam, it's not really up to me, but I did express some concerns. I have no problems with the bard that you intend. It really feels like a much more rougey archetype than a bard one. I don't see too much overlap for it to feel like anyone will be left with less to do, or as a sidekick to the other.

Awesome. Wanted to make sure prior to asking permission from da gm.

With that out of the way...

Orlok:

Pretty pretty please can I play an archaeologist and use a scorpion whip?? :D

Both are from ultimate combat, and they're up on the srd. Archaeologist is basically a rogue with spells, and scorpion whips are whips with lethal damage.

Trinam, that's fine, but be warned - if your character shows up in a fedora, he will not be long for the world.

Also, it seems Sagaar has posted in the IC thread, but made no mention of his absence, or the fact that we pretty clearly have two new people coming in. What do you guys want to do? I think he's probably hoping to make a show of activity, which I can appreciate, but personally, to me, it feels like too little too late, given the fact that since we've started he's had an average span of 4 or 5 days between each post.

Oh! Also, given the increasingly byzantine web of relationships that's going to be coming out in this game, and the number of mystery parents we've got, I was wondering if everyone could include their character's age in their profile?

Alyoma: That should work fine. If you're alright with it, your local temple may have given you a specific agenda in Ravengro, as you were headed that way regardless. If you can send me an e-mail (address is listed above), I can mention a couple of ideas I might have for the character. I'm trying to fold everyone's history into the AP, but I want to run it by everyone first, since, y'know, it's their character.

I know I've asked this already, but I figured with a couple of new dudes coming in, I'd ask once more.

What type of prior experience do you have with the Carrion Crown AP? Has anyone played through the whole thing, played through part of it, or read it? No problem if you have, I just want to know what kind of expectations or extant knowledge I'm dealing with.

I'm also noticing that Ustalav seems to breed a startling number of orphan PCs. I don't supposed any of you would be surprised if we start using Guardian Forces and the BBEG turns out to be the head of your childhood orphanage?

I know I've asked this already, but I figured with a couple of new dudes coming in, I'd ask once more.

What type of prior experience do you have with the Carrion Crown AP? Has anyone played through the whole thing, played through part of it, or read it? No problem if you have, I just want to know what kind of expectations or extant knowledge I'm dealing with.

I'm also noticing that Ustalav seems to breed a startling number of orphan PCs. I don't supposed any of you would be surprised if we start using Guardian Forces and the BBEG turns out to be the head of your childhood orphanage?

Agnar is not a orphan and as long as Agnar gets a gunblade we all good on that. I have gone up to the fourth book but the DM skipped a lot of things or added things.

Well, it looks like combat is going to be drawing to a close soon, and I want to introduce the new PCs upon the next in-game day. I'd like to correspond with Carrol and Ember a bit in order to work out how they knew Lorrimer, let them know who they're traveling with, and seeing if they've got anything they'd like to see worked into the AP's plot.

For the new PCs only, plx:

Assuming it's suitable for your characters, you will both be traveling to Ravengro by coach another old friend of Lorrimer's, Adivion Addrisant, an affluent noble from Caliphas. If you wish, you can have some prior connection to the man. He's pretty well-connected, especially with the intelligentsia and social of elite of Ustalav with an interest in philosophy and ancient cultures of Golarion. Learning of your association with Professor Lorrimer, he offered to bring you along in his coach, and has been reminiscing on the ride over about his former colleague.

I can work with this. Carol was supposed to be 'out hunting for ruins,' and her using Caliphas as a base of operations while exploring seems possible. She's a committed archaeologist, so the two may know each other through that. She'd definitely come along the second she heard the news out of respect for the recently deceased.

Going to be proceeding after I get off work today, and bringing in Ember and Carol.

Appologies for the brief lull in activity - been wrestling with a new Chinese law regarding income tax and foreign laborers.

Ah, I also recalled another of my old house-rules (I know, I'm really bad at mentioning these), but this one shouldn't really affect anything, and I doubt anyone ought to have a problem with it, nor should it impact anyone's build or decisions. But basically, when wielding a light shield (not heavy shield), I do allow you to use that hand for spellcasting, though arcane spell failure still applies when applicable, and your hand must still remain otherwise free.

Just let me know if you're ready to move ahead. It feels like everyone is just about wrapping up introductions, so I was wondering if you would like to move forward at this point.

Also, I've been working on a revised favored weapons list for the major deities of Golarion, and was hoping to get some feedback (and help!). Thing is, several of the choices have been spot on, but several of them have always felt a little off, whether because another weapon would suit the deity so much better (such as Calistria, see below), or because a different weapon has in practice been strongly associated with their church (such as Norgorber). Also, I wanted to make sure that each cleric actually gained something based on their deity's favored weapon. It always felt disappointing to me that a cleric of Zon-Kuthon essentially gains Exotic Weapon Proficiency for free, while a cleric of Nethys or Pharasma has nothing extra. This is not to say that ever single weapon has to scale exactly with the others on the list, but I want each cleric to effectively be granted a feat they wouldn't otherwise have. Keeping those goals in mind, what do you think of the list I've got so far, and would you (mostly Ember) prefer to see it used in this game?

Favored Weapons:

AbadarCrossbow This is unchanged, but his favored weapon is generically considered to be a crossbow, and his clerics are proficient with hand crossbows and repeating crossbows.

AsmodeusFlail The flail strikes me as a good choice for Asmodeus because it can easily be imagined as a device used for torture or to motivate underlings to work (think of it as a heavy horse whip). It just has a very tyrannical, dominating feel to it.

CalistriaShort Sword In the church of Calistria, a short sword represents the sting of a wasp. 'Nuff said.

Cayden CaileanRapier This one is unchanged.

DesnaStarknife Unchanged.

ErastilLongbow Even though his favored weapon is technically a longbow (unchanged), his clerics are proficient with all varieties of bows (not crossbows).

GorumGreatsword Unchanged for now, but I've been thinking of changing this one either an axe or something involving more spikes. If someone could point me towards a martial or exotic variant of the spiked gauntlet, that would be ideal.

GozrehTrident Unchanged for now, but I've been thinking that a harpoon (from UC) might be a better fit.

IomedaeLance The longsword was already Aroden's favored weapon, and there's been a theme thus far of 'no repeats.' I know she's the Inheritor and all, but the lance is just so valorous and knightly, and could easily be interpreted and symbolizing a ray of glorious light.

LamashtuKukri They've already mentioned that the kukri is often considered a sacred weapon of Lamashtu, and most depictions of her show her wielding kukris. I like the idea that they symbolize a beast's claws.

NethysQuarterstaff Unchanged, but his clerics get Quarterstaff Mastery from UM as a bonus feat. I've also been thinking of making the double-bladed sword his favored weapon to better reflect the god's duality and exoticism.

NorgorberWar Razor It's easily concealed and easily passed off as a mundane tool. Perfect for the gods of secrecy and murder. Plus, his Skinsaw cult has a track record of favoring these weapons.

PharasmaKhopesh This is the best I can come up with for now, but Pharasma has been giving me more trouble than any other deity. I figured a Khopesh would simply be a relic of her origins as a Garudnit (and especially Osirioni) deity. I feel like it's a little too similar to Sarenrae's association with scimitars, though, and I'd really prefer to find a more dagger-like weapon that has some ritual significance. Any suggestions?

RovagugEarth Breaker This is that big spiky hammer from the Inner Sea World Guide. I just figured that the god of destruction would like a weapon that's good at smashing junk. I've also been thinking about the Heavy Pick for this one.

Another solution is to simply award the Weapon Focus feat to anyone whose deity favours a simple weapon. That way you always get a feat, regardless.

For Iomadae, the Lance may be a knightly weapon, but it is also very situational. The favoured weapon should be something a bit more universally applicable I think. And, like Gorum, the Longsword is in her emblom, is the symbol of her followers, and is what she uses herself. You could upgrade it to Bastard Sword with little difficulty if you wanted to. Irori giving Improved Unarmed is a good move; I've houseruled that in my games as well.

In regards to the lance, I don't think there's anything in the rules that requires it to be used from horseback. One thing that bothered me a little about the longsword, actually, was how vanilla is what. I like the idea the favored weapons stand out more often than not. Already in PF, if you someone carrying a starknife, there's probably a suspicion that they're affiliated with Desna. With this change, priests of Iomedae may well be known for wielding lances on foot.

In regards to the lance, I don't think there's anything in the rules that requires it to be used from horseback.

Nope. You just get to use it in one hand if you would like when you are on horseback. I believe that you needed to be mounted to use one in 2e AD&D though, since if I recall correctly the cavelier kit from the complete book of paladins allowed a paladin to use a lance while he was on foot, though he needed to treat it as an awl pike.

Looking through all the stuff about Pharasma, I think sticking with the dagger is the right thing to do for her weapon. I don't think any other weapon would fit the story well.
I know the dagger is a poor weapon compared to the other choices, but I don't pick gods for their weapons, so I'm not bothered as much.

All right; December is going to be a good month. The hardest part of what I was working on is due the Monday after Thanksgiving. So from the 27th on I'll have some free time again. December is a 3 paycheck month at 1 job and I pay no rent that month as part of the promotion the apartment complex I recently moved into was running when I signed my lease- I just might close out the year by purchasing myself a new computer since it is possibly within my budget due to the above and holiday sales. So at the start of next month, I'll be free in case any other players ever need to drop and the party needs rounded out again. Otherwise, I'll just continue to lurk in here.

Sorry, I know I've been scarce this week. We had another teacher arrive last Friday, and have one leaving tomorrow, so it's been pretty hectic getting the first situated, and getting the second ready to go. Everything should be skippy by Saturday afternoon though. I'll have something more up by then at the latest!

Hey guys. I know that my posting has been getting more and more sporadic lately, and that I keep asking you to bear with me, but I just don't think I can ask that of you anymore. The truth is things have been picking up here in a number of different facets, whether they be work-related, social, or personal. You know I've been busy at work, and on top of my normal classes I've begun to meet with students outside of class to help them prepare for studying abroad or for English exams. Outside of work, numerous events have been occurring at a lot of foreigner hotspots, which I have to admit I've allowed my friends to drag me to. Finally, we're about to start up a face-to-face D&D game here in China. In the end, I simply don't think I can continue to keep up with any PbPs anymore, which means that I'll be both ending this campaign, and pulling Dherisan out of RotRL (I know that Ringtail still reads this thread regularly, but nonetheless, could someone let him know?).

I confess I feel kind of rotten for dropping these games. I've enjoyed them both thoroughly, and speaking both as a player and a GM, I think you guys have been a fantastic group. The truth is, though, when I initially got into PbPs, it was always a filler for the RL games that weren't happening. I sincerely hope no one feels like I'm kicking them to the curb here, because that's not it at all - it's simply that while even though there are elements of PbPs that I do enjoy, face-to-face games are on a whole more appealing to me. A growing life outside of the apartment leaves me with less time to post, and with a local D&D group forming, that's where I'll be investing the bulk of my time that is spent at home. I hope you guys all understand, and I hope there are no hard feelings over this. I know that there were more than a few lapses in activity, and I'm ill-equipped to gauge the quality of a game I was running myself, but overall, I've had fun with you guys. Even though I'll be stepping out of PbPs, I still hope I see you on other portions of these boards, and best of luck at Thistletop.

I am very sorry to hear you will be backing out, Orlok. I for one was enjoying the game very much. I thought you did a very good job of making the characters real, and encouraging a good deal of role-playing. I also found the that the role-playing and group interactions between the player characters was some of the best I have had the opportunity to enjoy, and that may also be due to the environment you fostered. I was enjoying my character a great deal, so hopefully I will have a chance to recreate him within another campaign somewhere.

On the other hand, I am happy for you that your social opportunities in China are improving. I understand that the chance for a real life game is more interesting than an on-line one, and if I had to chose I might go the same way. To me, a PbP game fills a different role, and I have an IRL game to call my home group as well. It is very unfortunate that you don't have the time for both.

I was very happy when you decided to give this campaign a second shot, after taking an extended break, but I suppose coming back from the brink twice is unlikely, so this campaign is likely to fall by the wayside.

We had the discussion last time about finding a new GM, and that is probably still an option. However, this time, half our group is new to the party so whether the interest is there is a valid question. I have been toying with the idea of starting up a PbP of my own at some point (I've been cataloging some house rule ideas on my main profile), so I would consider taking over if there was interest for me to do so. It would suck that I would not get the chance to continue playing in the adventure path, but c'est la vie. I have a few obligations of my own (such as a wife due any day with our second child), so the pace might slow, but I would still be willing.

I am fine to keep playing if someone wants to run it. I would consider running it (as I will be converting it to 4E and running it for my TT group in a month), but I am running 3 other PbP's now, and playing in 6 counting this one.